Have Fun

There are basically two types of activities; those you enjoy doing and those you don't. From the grim faces of the office warriors commuting to and from work each day, it's safe to say that for most people work falls into the second category.

No so in this business. Network marketers enjoy what they're doing - mostly because they have control over their time, their incomes, and their life. They know that when the going gets tough, they are still better off than the average worker, who is pummeled by long hours, demanding employers, office politics, and salary increases that trail inflation.

If you are an executive or employer, you know that the tensions don't subside just because you're on the management team. Many will argue it gets worse, not better, because the pressure to compete is greater.

Either way, you will discover that working for yourself is a dream in itself. Not least because of the two-second commute to your office; working in the clothes you choose to wear; making appointments that avoid rush hours; enjoying quality time with your partner; playing your favorite CD in the background; being home for the kids after school; and, above all, having the freedom to decide how and when you will work.

When you work for yourself, you have no excuse not to be happy. And researchers are quick to point out that happy people are more likely to be successful.

Happiness is a mind-set. You can choose to be the type of person who lights up a room when you enter it, or you can choose to be someone who lights up the room when you leave.

Decide that building your business will be a fun experience.

Start with expectations. If you expect a Fantasy World where nothing goes wrong, then you are setting yourself up for disappointment. If you commit to succeeding on Planet Reality, where the best plans come unstuck, appointments get cancelled, you drive ten miles in the rain to a no-show, your star recruit leaves, your brilliant prospect turns out to be a turkey, your partner phones to say he's working late when you are counting on him (or her) to babysit...you'll make it to your destination.

We get what we give. Be warm and respectful to difficult and delightful customers alike. Love your demanding recruits as much as your gems. See difficult situations as character building! Don't rush. It takes just one minute to make someone feel special with your undivided attention.

Liven up your presentations. Most people would rather be entertained than lectured to. Hold fun meetings. We learn best when we're having fun. Actively seek out happy people, and cross the street to avoid the miserable and mean-spirited ones. Celebrate every milestone, no matter how small.

Stress is a major turnoff. Make sure you come across as relaxed, no matter how busy you are. Not only will you feel better; you'll look better too. There's nothing like stress for digging lines into the face, and nothing like relaxation for ironing them out.

Look for ways to increase the "fun factor" in your life and in your business, and you will become a beacon for other enthusiastic, fun-loving people who want to enjoy what they do.

Taken from the book, "Be a Network Marketing Superstar" by Mary Christensen (with Wayne Christensen)

What's YOUR State's Ranking?

According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, the resident population of the United States, projected to 04/25/08 at 01:44 GMT (EST+5) is
303,930,503

That's a WHOLE lot of people in the United States of America, right? You know what is so absolutely AMAZING about that statistic is when you partner it with the number of people in YTB right now.

There are approximately 125,000 (maybe a little more or less) in YTB (Your Travel Biz) right now, and with a population of 303,930,503 in the United States (as of right now) I would say that it is definately an opportunity for you to be "IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME", wouldn't you agree?

Take a look at the January 2008 State by State Listing of RTA's (Referring Travel Agents) in YTB...

AK…306 AL…1281 AR…335 AS…3
AZ…2080 CA…20352 CO…3736 CT…1547
DC…973 DE…564 FL…22648 GA…10096
GU…15 HI…1027 IA…281 ID…645
IL…5824 IN…1875 KS…808 KY…1173
LA…1094 MA…1563 MD…7310 ME…75
MI…3903 MN…599 MO…4006 MS…492
MT…89 NC…4031 ND…85 NE…169
NH…195 NJ…3550 NM…198 NV…2469
OH…2325 OK…508 OR…399 PA…2287
PR…886 RI…643 SC…2356 SD…50
TN…1968 TX…6706 UT…642 VA…4079
VI…103 VT…109 WA…1051 WI…397
WV…201 WY…124

Do you know what that says to me....one word...

OPPORTUNITY!

Opportunity is knocking...what's stopping you from opening the door?

Email me today so we can partner together to make a difference in your state, your family, your finances, your dreams, and your life!

Exponential Growth

A lot of the time I get a glazed over look when I start talking to people about the benefits of EXPONENTIAL GROWTH and how it can greatly benefit their families to build a business this way. Here is a short, sweet, and simple illustration on EXPONENTIAL GROWTH I found in a book called, "Shoot for the Stars", by Pete Billac.

In this business (YTB calls it REFERRAL MARKETING) you will hear the words "duplication" and "exponential". Let me tell you how POWERFUL these two words are. Here's my favoritre "for instance" concerning exponentail growth. It has to do with playing golf.

If you wager ONE PENNY on the first hole, then DOUBLE IT on the following 17 holes, that last BET is worth over TWELVE HUNDRED DOLLARS! Grab a calculator and see for yourself.

What this REALLY means is that if you TELL a few people each day and they tell a few who tell a few, SOON you'll have a lot of people who are working for themselves (but ALSO working for you) to help you succedd. It's so simple yet totally awesome.

By "telling" others and "training them" to tell others, you are duplicating your own efforts, and this exponential growth just happens. And your business can skyrocket.

The results can be simply amazing...I am not saying that it is always easy, but the opportunity is definitely there, for me, for you, for everyone.

The choice is yours...
what will you do?
what's stopping you from starting your new adventure right now?

Your Dream Begins Today

What will you life be like when you've acheived your most deeply held dreams? Let's take a look at how you can start living your dreams this very day.

Do you have a specific dream, a vision of the life you wish to live?
How specific is that dream?
How clear is that vision?
How do you intend to reach it?
What obstacles stand in your way?
Are your fears holding you back or are you using them to move you forward?

Your fears can actually lead you to success. Fear is an intense emotion. But that doesn't mean it has to control you, or even stop you. Fear can prepare you and push you forward just as strongly as it can hold you back. Fear heightens your awareness and icreases your physical strength. Fear brings your mind to sharp focus. With all that going for you, does it make sense to just run and hide? Of course not. Fear gets you in shape to take action!

Are you waiting for things to get better before moving ahead? If you're serious about success you need to start taking action today. If you're waiting for things to be perfect, you'll wait forever and get nothing will ever get done. The way to achieve is to bloom where you're planted, to do what you can, where you are, with what you have. It's easy to think up excuses for not taking action. "If only I had more hours in the day. If only I had a better job. If only I could meet the right person." But excuses won't bring you anything of value. You've got to change your "If only" into an "I will". "I will make better use of my time. I will work on improving my career, create and nuture my relationships." Take a chance. Have faith in yourself. Your circumstances will improve when you make the effort to improve them. Start where you are right now. You have everything it takes to reach for whatever you desire. Stop wishing. Use your time, your energy, your thoughts and efforts to make it happen! You'll be glad you did!

By Les Brown
(Les Brown is an internationally recognized speaker and author)

Question...

Is it better to earn an extra $10,000 or save $10,000?

Well, let’s take a look at three different scenarios to see…

For the case of consistency we will look at the average American annual salary as our basis for the analysis, which is $42,000 a year.

Scenario #1 – This is your average household

$42,000 average household income
-$14,000 taxes
$28,000 Total after taxes

Scenario #2 – This is what most people do
Go out and get a part-time job, work over time, and/or find other supplement source of income

$42,000 average household income
+$10,000 extra income earned for the year
$52,000 new total with the extra income added
- $17,000 taxes
$35,000 Total after taxes

Scenario #3 – This is what happens when you start your own home based business

$42,000 average household income
- $14,000 taxes
$28,000 Total after taxes
+$10,000 Refund (for owning your own business/tons of tax deductions)
$38,000 Total after taxes

Which one makes more sense to you?

Go out and get another J.O.B. (see that post here), spend more time away from your family, make your life more hectic and stressful, or open up a home based business where you can work from home, spend as much or as little time as you want, and substantially improve your financial future.

The choice is YOURS! Why would you not accept this incredible invitation?

Right now there are people on our team that are getting tax refund checks from $1,000 - $8,500…that can really make a difference in ANY family!

What’s stopping you from taking those steps for you and your family today?

Wall Street's Next Online Travel Darling?

YTB International: Wall Street's Next Online Travel Darling?

posted on: April 02, 2008 about stocks: YTBLA.PK

Priceline (Nasdaq: PCLN) is the online travel industry’s best company, as judged by the valuation currently accorded its publicly traded shares. Though Expedia (Nasdaq: EXPE) has a higher total market capitalization, Priceline shares trade at a multiple of trailing twelve months earnings that is nearly 50% higher than the same earnings multiple of Expedia. (PCLN ttm p/e = 36, EXPE ttm p/e = 23).

Thus, it would not be a stretch to say that PCLN is the darling of Wall Street when it comes to the online travel space and it is easy to see why. PCLN management has steered this company from bleeding red ink and the necessity of a reverse split five years ago to its place today as an international powerhouse in online travel. Shareholders who bought into PCLN when it first started making the turn towards profitability (about 5 years ago this month) have enjoyed 5 year gains of as much as 2000% (for those who purchased near the $6 lows in 2003).

Investors seeking gains of that kind in the online travel space will likely be disappointed if they invest in one of the big publicly traded players, including PCLN. Though PCLN management appears to be executing magnificently, the company’s stock price ($128 as of this writing) already reflects this near flawless execution. Its hard to imagine that investor’s could see the stock double over the next year or so, much less increase by a factor of three or four times. It is this realization that made us do a little digging to see if there are any companies out there that have PCLN type potential, but have yet to be recognized by the investment community as such. This brings us to the stock we believe investors should consider - a company called YTB International (YTBLA.PK) (hereinafter “YTB“).

YTB International is a rapidly growing company in the online travel space. While both PCLN and YTBLA operate in the online travel space, their core business models are so different that it makes most comparisons of their respective businesses less than meaningful - it would be like comparing apples with oranges. However, we see much commonality between the two companies from an investment standpoint - with PCLN as a model of the kind of stock price appreciation that could be achieved by a company in this space under the right circumstances. Simply put, we see potential for investors in YTB stock to earn the kind of return long term PCLN investors have enjoyed.

YTBLA is currently traded on the pink sheets and we have never recommended a stock that trades on the Pink Sheets before. However, YTBLA is current on all listing requirements, expects to be listed on the OTCBB within the next few weeks and we fully expect that the company will be listed on a national exchange before the end of this year. We have also never recommended a company with a multi level marketing model, though We have reviewed many of them over the years and can appreciate the wealth and value created by billion dollar companies like Avon (NYSE: AVN), Tupperware (NYSE: TUP), Herbalife (NYSE: HLF) and PrePaid Legal Services (NYSE: PPD). Despite these two factors, we are still recommending YTBLA because we believe they are poised to be a significant player in the online travel space and we further believe that investors in the stock at today’s prices could see Priceline type gains over the next few years and possibly sooner.

As mentioned previously, YTBLA’s business model is very different from PCLN and EXPE, each of whom operates a website that is designed to be a portal through which consumers book travel online. PCLN and EXPE spend millions of dollars in advertising each quarter to attract consumers to their websites in hopes that they will book travel thereby earning the company commissions or merchant revenues. YTB spends very little on advertising, relying instead on a network of “referral travel agents” (hereinafter “RTAs”) to book travel through their own private labeled YTB website. These referral travel agents pay YTB a start up fee (around $499), then a monthly fee ($49) to host their online booking engines. The referral travel agents then earn a commission on each booking, a small percentage of which is retained by YTB. Thus, YTB earns revenue each time a new RTA signs up, then earns monthly hosting fees and commissions from each RTA.

Thus, even though both companies operate in the online travel space, the business models and revenue generation engines are quite different. The more important recognition here, we believe, is that from an investor’s standpoint, YTB is a company that is in a very similar position to where PCLN found themselves five years ago. At that time, PCLN had a flagging stock price and many questions surrounding its business model, despite the fact that it was making obvious strides in its quest to turn the corner to profitability.

This is similar to the storyline we are see today for YTB, where the company has dealt with several bumps in the road, most of which were related to either its ability to manage very high volume growth in a very short time or attempts by competitors to try and slow the company’s march forward.

It appears that these bumps in the road have been unable to stop or even slow YTB’s momentum. The company’s most recent annual report shows staggering gains in bookings, commissions earned, revenue and steady gains in the number of RTA‘s who have signed up to participate. The company grew gross travel bookings more than 187% in 2007 over 2006 and saw the base of active RTA’s more than double. The company reported its third profitable quarter in a row, its first full year profit and it appears to have reached a point in its growth cycle where it has achieved the critical mass necessary to grow revenues significantly without a commensurate increase in expenses. We saw evidence in the recent 10K filing that indicated general and administrative expenses as a percentage of total revenue fell to only 26.1% in 2007 from 36.5% of revenue in 2006.

Another way we expect the company to grow margins is by earning higher percentage commissions. A very good indicator of this trend was reported in the recent 10K filing. The company reported an 84% gain in gross total bookings, which led to a 178% gain in gross total commissions received. As the company establishes itself as a high volume source of bookings for travel suppliers, the suppliers are willing to pay higher commissions and overrides. This accrues to the benefit of YTB as well as its RTA’s.

We see an opportunity for the company to further expand margins by building or buying its own wholesale business. By becoming the “merchant of record” for travel transactions, particularly lodging, YTB can expand on the traditional 10% commissions to instead earn effective rates in the 20 - 35% range. We note that it was a similar move into wholesale lodging reservations by Priceline in 2003 that allowed them to make the jump to profitability and that their acquisition of one of Europe’s largest lodging wholesalers that has been the catalyst for Priceline’s dramatic growth the last three years.

We believe further expansion of the company’s margins are possible as the company leverages the value of its network of 130,000+ active websites. The company’s cost to roll out additional product offerings through their RTA website channel is next to zero as is their risk. As such, we expect to see several new products offered through the RTA network in 2008, each of which could have a material impact on YTB’s financials.

In summary, we believe that YTB’s status as a pink sheets listed company that lacks Wall Street coverage or even main street attention has allowed the recent surge in its business to go unnoticed. The earnings acceleration and margin expansion simply have not been reflected in the stock price - as the stock has fallen more than 70% since the 2007 Q2 report of their first profitable quarter. With the stock currently hovering around the $1.65 per share range - we feel that the stock has the potential for exponential returns as investors become more aware of the YTB story and the company continues its domestic and international expansion. We believe the company is on the verge of a margin breakout that could propel the company to several periods of high double digit year over year earnings growth and that investors will ultimately accord YTB the kind of earnings multiple usually associated with such growth. As such, investors at today’s prices could be buying into the proverbial “ten bagger” or even better, enjoy returns like 2003 investors in the PCLN story, who earned 20x their money in less than five years. If YTB can sustain growth at the half the rate it grew in 2007, YTB investors at today’s prices could do even better than that.
Disclosure: Author has a long position in YTBLA.PK

If you want to check out the article for yourself, click on the title of the post or click HERE to go directly to the article and read a few of the 138 comments. I can tell you this...after this article was posted YTB stock went way up.

What Every Business Needs

There are several factors involved in making your business a success. Determination. Hard work. A good product or service. A flexible plan. A strong business team. The list can be endless. But there is one thing that every business, large or small, absolutely must have in order to exist: customers. If you learn the secret of attracting and keeping new customers you can overcome any obstacle on your path to success.

Terri Bowersock was the student most likely to be thumped on the head with a ruler. She was commonly labeled "dummy" and "stupid" by teachers and peers alike. Because her dyslexia wasn't diagnosed until after graduation, she faked and cheated her way through school. College was not an option. Traditional job hunting was impossible-Terri couldn't even fill out a job application. Terri's mom always knew her daughter was smart and she recognized what most people overlooked. Terri had true grit and enough determination to run her own business. When her mom got her a job operating a small gift shop another thing quickly became obvious. Terri had a knack for bringing in customers.

After 4 years honing her sales skills at the gift shop Terri decided it was time to open her own business. In 1979 twenty-two year old Terri borrowed $2000 from her grandmother, signed a lease (which she couldn't read) and opened her own furniture consignment shop. For the sake of space I will fly over her years of struggling to make ends meet, evictions, setbacks and a host of other challenges. By 1997 Terri's Consign & Design Furnishings had become a $16 million corporation with franchises in several states.

When Terri started her own business she lacked education, maturity, business savvy, and a long-range plan. Consignment shops are a dime a dozen and for every one that opens another fails. So what made the difference for Terri? She instinctively knew the value of constantly bringing in new customers and keeping the old customers faithful. What can you and I learn from Terri's experience? Simply this:

-No matter how well business seems to be going, always assume there are more customers that need your services.
-Find creative ways of marketing and gaining consumer awareness.
-Don't be afraid to try something no one else is doing.
-Always provide better service than your customers expect.
-Make your customers feel like you care about them personally. There is no substitute for personal attention.
-Don't be too proud to hawk your business on the street or from door-to-door if that's what it takes to get people's attention.

If Terri Bowersock could achieve business success in spite of some astounding roadblocks, so can you. I have faith in you!

You can do this, I know you can...email me and let me show you how we can work together to make it happen!

Why This Business?

It just MAKES SENSE!!! You have a "product" that most of the world uses, you get competitive prices, and it is so outrageously easy. What REALLY excited me is that all you have to do is TELL others (friends, neighbors, relatives, anyone and everyone you meet) about how you can get them flights, cruises, hotels, rental cars, and then direct them to your web site. The COMPUTER does the rest.

The computer takes down all the records and YOU get a check each week. Not only do YOU do very little, but THEY do very little, and it's easy for them to do by just hitting a few keys.

YTB is "the" most outstanding company that I have seen, EVER. It's a win-win-win situation. YTB makes money, YOU make money (save money on travel), and you help OTHERS.

And, since TRAVEL is so interesting and exciting to TELL about, EVERYONE listens and you just TELL. I can't believe it's so very EASY. If you don't "make it" in this business, you either didn't learn how to do it, or you didn't TRY.

Do you understand what I'm telling you? You have the PRODUCT that people spend SEVEN TRILLION dollars a year usuing, they use it over and over again, you TELL and never SELL, and the COMPUTER does the bookkeeping for you.

You need NO prior training; YTB will teach you what to do and HOW to do it. All YOU Have to do is be able to READ and LISTEN. You can start it in your spare time, do most of it from your home, and it costs very little to start.

As I see it, you have two options; try it or stay with your JOB. I want this book to GIVE you the option of having a chance to become financially successful.

~Pete Billac, "Shoot for the Stars"

You know what is so amazing about this...it is so incredibly easy and yet so amazingly rewarding. Right now I am on a 9-day vacation with my family, traveling throughout the state of Florida, enjoying the sites, the resorts, the beaches, the amusement parks, and while I am spending time with my family I am also "working" and reaping the fruits of this amazing business!

I would love to show you how to be able to do the same thing with YOUR family!!!

Ask me how and let me teach you all I know...

Back to the Vacation,


PS - That picture at the top of the post is from our stop in Ft. Myers Beach...what an amazing sunset!